One Mistake
by pineappleminivan
Summary: One mistake can change a life forever. Warning: Spoilers and J/F of all things :-)


Author's Notes: Thank you for taking the time to read my very first Cowboy Bebop story! It is a Jet and Faye centered fic, so all of you Spike lovers (and believe me I am among you) will be disappointed because Spike only mentioned in passing. For all of you who did not close out my story after the last sentence, thank you once again and please, please review my story. I have only written three stories in my life and it is important, no, it is absolutely positively necessary beyond the shadow of a doubt that I get some feedback! It doesn't matter if it is good or bad as long as it is constructive criticism.  
  
With that long-winded spiel out of the way, on with the show!  
  
The Disclaimer Song: don't own the rights, just using the characters for a simple fan fiction, please don't sue me. (whew.)  
  
  
  
1 One Mistake  
  
It had been one month, 15 days and 12 hours since the star that was so bright fell from the sky. Spike, like the cat in a story he once told, had finally found what he was looking for - he no longer needed to be among the living.  
  
Jet Black almost smiled at the memory of his friend. Spike had hated cats - along with children, dogs, and of course, women with attitudes.  
  
Like Spike, the child and the dog had left his ship, leaving only memories behind. It seemed that all Jet had now were memories. Even Faye Valentine, sitting across from him on the sofa, seemed to be merely a fleeting chimera, another lonely memory that would soon vanish- just like everything else.  
  
"You're… you're not- " Though Jet Black did not speak as much as others; but he almost always knew what needed to be said. For once, he was at a loss for words.  
  
Faye answered. "Yes… I am."  
  
"I need a smoke." Jet Black shook his head.  
  
Faye glared at him. It was the first emotion, other than grief, that she had been able to muster in many days. "It's not as if I wanted this to happen. It's not as if I need to, to…" She trailed off. The wound that the truth had inflicted upon her was still almost too much for her to bear. Faye took a deep breath and then continued, focusing her eyes on a memory far away. "Look, it was one night. Just one night! I don't even remember exactly what happened." She paused, and looked up at Jet.  
  
"Go on." He urged.  
  
"We both had been drinking way too much, way too fast. We both tried to drown memories…" She paused again, and as she began to speak again tears started to fall from her emerald eyes. "Memories that just wouldn't die. I just didn't want to feel anything that night, and neither did he. We never spoke about it after it happened." She paused again. "You never knew, did you?"  
  
"No," Jet whispered. He took a long drag off his cigarette to calm his nerves. *Last thing we need around here is another soap opera.* He thought.  
  
While lost in his thoughts, Jet failed to notice that Faye had continued on with her story.  
  
"At first I tried to ignore the warning signs - the throwing up the, well, you know… I figured that, well it sounds stupid, but I thought that I was sick with grief."  
  
Jet's gruff voice was muted. "Well, it's not grief that's making your body sick, it's…"  
  
In a whisper, Faye spoke the truth that would change her life forever. "It's Spike's child."  
  
-----  
  
No more words were spoken by the two for many hours. Instead, both went about in a mechanical fashion, completing the rote tasks that at one time seemed such an inconvenience.  
  
Now those menial tasks were all that kept their sanity intact.  
  
The protests from Faye's stomach told her that dinnertime was near. She walked down to the galley and found Jet busily preparing that night's dinner. Jet did not turn to greet her, he simply continued to cook, tasting this and adding that. *Just like old times,* she thought.  
  
"Are you going to keep it?"  
  
Jet's words startled Faye out of her thoughts. "What?"  
  
Jet was now busily scooping his concoction out onto plates. "I said, are you going to keep it?"  
  
----  
  
The question hung in the air for what seemed like hours.  
  
"Yes. I want to, I have to. It's… it's all I have left of him now," Faye said. Jet still had not turned to face her, so she could not see the relief that spread across Jet's features. *What's it even matter to you anyway?* He asked himself. He could think of no answer.  
  
Jet did not respond to Faye's admission. He sat the plates down on the table, took his place, and began to eat. Faye had not moved from where she had entered.  
  
"Food's gonna get cold if you don't eat now," Jet said.  
  
Faye took her place at the table and started to eat her food quite fast. She hadn't realized how hungry she had been. Jet looked up from his plate and nearly laughed at the sight of Faye's speed eating. However, the cause of Faye's increased appetite soon caused the smile to fall from his face. He could cook for her, that much was true, but how could he help her prepare to bring another life into the world?  
  
"Jet?" Faye's question had broken the silence. Jet looked up at her, saying not a word.  
  
"What do we do now?"  
  
*"We?"* Jet thought, *Funny how one little word changes everything.*  
  
-----  
  
Dinner was now finished, and the galley was once again devoid of food. The two found themselves on the couch - this time they sat with eyes glued to the television screen. Faye reached for the pack of cigarettes sitting on the coffee table, but her hand was smacked away by Jet's.  
  
"No more smoking for you." Jet's voice was stern.  
  
"What?" Faye was incredulous. "You're not my boss! I want a cigarette!"  
  
Jet picked up the pack and walked over to the trash can with Faye following close behind.  
  
"Don't you know what smoking can do to a kid?" Jet asked, "Messes them up big time." With that said, Jet dropped the cigarettes into the trash. Faye rushed over to try and retrieve them, but before she could reach the trash can Jet caught her.  
  
"Let go!" She said. "You're not my keeper!" Faye struggled hopelessly against Jet's iron grasp.  
  
Jet pinned her against the wall, placing his hands on her shoulders. With his face only inches from hers, he too sealed his fate.  
  
"I am now."  
  
----  
  
Decisions had been made, choices had become final. Now tasks that needed to be completed cried out like never before. Jet sat wearily in front of the computer console while Faye slept on the couch. The prices of everything had risen once again, and money was, as always, a serious issue.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" He buried his face in his hands. With a sigh, he resigned himself to the inevitable. "I'll have to sell the Bebop." He whispered.  
  
A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump. "Faye," he said, "didn't know you were up so soon."  
  
"Yeah, it's not as easy to sleep as it used to be." She answered. *Nothing's like it used to be,* she thought.  
  
"I'm gonna sell the Bebop," Jet repeated.  
  
"What?" Faye was stunned. Where am I… where are you going to go?" The Bebop had only been her home for a short while, but it was the only place where she had come even close to feeling accepted… even secure.  
  
"We need the money to buy a real home, and food, and all the supplies for the kid and…" Jet trailed off, for the realization of his decision had just hit him. He was going to *sell* the Bebop, the ship that he held together little more than spit and nails. It had been home to a band of cowboys, and now his time as captain of the ship was coming to an end.  
  
What would his new beginning bring?  
  
----  
  
As Jet signed the purchase papers for the new owners of the Bebop, it felt like he was selling a part of his soul. All of the memories that the Bebop held were sold away with the stroke of his pen.  
  
"Thank you sir, the proper amount of woolongs has been transferred to your account." The lawyer overseeing the transaction was far too formal for such a trade. But no matter how odd the parties involved were, Jet had at least gotten a good deal. He had made the rag-tag ship out to be a greater treasure than it looked – and he had meant every word he had said. Jet handed the papers over to the new owner, a young man who looked as if he was buying his very first ship.  
  
"Take good care of her."  
  
"I will, sir."  
  
----  
  
Purchases had been made, papers had been signed. Two bounty hunters once so free in the stars now were bound to Mars, looking at a little house in a little neighborhood.  
  
"This is the house?" Faye asked.  
  
"Yeah, this is the one." Jet answered. The house was very modest, a simple one-story abode among many. The neighborhood was far from idyllic, but the asking price was something that could not be passed up.  
  
"This *wonderful* find has three bedrooms, one bathroom and a glorious view of the street from the front living room." The realtor that was showing Jet and Faye the house tended to exaggerate a little too much. "It is the *perfect* house for a couple just starting a *family.*"  
  
His final word struck a cord in Jet. They were no family. Jet shook his head, deep in thought. They were just two ex-bounty hunters trying to find a place to raise the child of their dead comrade. *Why had I agreed to this?* He asked himself. Once again, he could find no answer.  
  
Faye started at the sound of the word. Family. She could not remember such a thing. Faye supposed that the little crew of Bebop could have been considered a family, but their story had finished nearly right after it had begun. Faye quickly banished the thought. *Wishful thinking… it must be the hormones.*  
  
The nasal voice of the realtor brought the two back from their thoughts. "So, isn't this just *perfect* for you? Don't you wish you could buy it right now?"  
  
Jet was not amused by the antics of the realtor. "Well…" He looked at Faye.  
  
"Yes," said Faye, "let's buy it."  
  
----  
  
Just as Jet had every morning since he and Faye had moved in, so did he stand in front of the little stove in the small kitchen of the house. "The money from the Bebop isn't gonna last forever, I got to find a job." Jet flipped the eggs in the skillet.  
  
Faye sat silent at the table- another morning ritual. More months had passed since her quiet revelation on the Bebop so long ago, and Faye was most definitely showing. T-shirts and jeans had replaced her yellow … "outfit."  
  
Jet served the eggs and soon they both were eating breakfast.  
  
"So I thought that I would check down at the police station, see if any jobs were opening up."  
  
Faye looked up from her plate, surprised by Jet's offhand remark. "Didn't you quit the force?"  
  
"Yeah, but other than catching bad guys I don't have many money-making skills. I… I quit because it was getting too hot, but most of the guys I knew are gone now, and I don't have those sky-high standards anymore. So... no big deal." In reality, it was a big deal, at least to his sense of integrity. *Why, Jet? Why?* His thoughts cried out to him. The answer would still not come.  
  
----  
  
Jet Black had done a lot of jobs. He had chased countless criminals and even fought against a mob syndicate. Being a meter maid was not his idea of experience put to good use.  
  
As he wrote another ticket he sighed to himself. *You chose this lot, didn't you?*  
  
"Hey, hey! That's my car!" Another annoying citizen had stepped up to try and argue his way out of a ticket.  
  
"Sorry sir, this car has expired plates."  
  
Jet had expected another burst of protest. What he had not expected was to look up from his notepad into the barrel of a gun.  
  
He heard the shot only after he felt it.  
  
---  
  
The shot had gone awry and had hit him in his mechanical arm. Though he felt no pain from the bullet, his arm was rendered useless. The man had turned to run and Jet chased after him. Jet radioed for backup as he pulled out his non-standard issue gun and followed after.  
  
"Police! Stop!" He calls were, as was to be expected, unheeded. He chased the man down the street and into a grocery store. Weaving through aisle after aisle, he followed the man all the way to the back of the store. The man rushed right through the "Employees Only" door and Jet followed a mere step behind him.  
  
Jet had expected a stockroom, or a freezer- something that would make sense being in the back of a grocery store. The headquarters of a drug cartel was not one of those things. Every drug imaginable was in stock in that little room. Maps hung on the wall, and several men were hunched over a table, seemingly comparing notes. The men pulled out their weapons in response to his entrance.  
  
*Well, here goes nothing,* Jet thought. He wondered if the way he felt now was the same way that Spike had felt when he had faced down the syndicate. Suicide was a reckless thing.  
  
"This is the police! Hands in the air!" Twenty guns locked and loaded their chambers in almost perfect unison. Jet thought of Faye, and her unborn child. What would happen to them after he was gone?  
  
"What are you gonna do now, pig?" The man he had been chasing sneered. "You're all by yourself, just one little piggy, and now I'll send you squealing all the way-"  
  
Before he could finish his sentence the door was kicked down and police officers flooded the room.  
  
Before anyone uttered another word, a single shot rang out.  
  
----  
  
Faye didn't want to answer the door. However, the incessant ringing of the doorbell finally brought her out of her seat.  
  
"Ma'am? Is this Mr. Black's residence?"  
  
Faye started to worry. Police didn't come to your door in formal tones unless something was up. "Yes," she said.  
  
"Ma'am, Mr. Black was injured in the line of duty, he was shot today…" Faye did not hear the rest of what the young officer said. Why would somebody shoot a meter maid?  
  
"Ma'am?"  
  
Faye shook her head to banish her thoughts. "Is he okay?"  
  
"He is in stable condition at the hospital… he asked to come and check on you. Mr. Black is a very brave man. A notorious drug cartel was brought down thanks to him." The admiration was evident in his voice.  
  
Faye could not believe her ears. Jet had taken down a drug racket? How did a meter maid manage to bring down an operation like that?  
  
"I came… well, Mr. Black is asking to see you." The officer said.  
  
Faye looked up at the officer. It was time to get some answers. "How fast can you drive?"  
  
  
  
---  
  
Faye took a deep breath before she opened up the door to Jet's hospital room. She had said goodbye to the young doctor that had guided her there, and now she was going to find out if her only friend left in the universe was still alive.  
  
"Faye." Jet's voice was low and raspy.  
  
"I'm here Jet, the doctors told me that you would be fine… the bullet missed all the important stuff…" Faye continued to ramble as tears fell from her eyes.  
  
"Faye. It's going to be all right. I-" Jet coughed. "I am going to be fine, and so are you."  
  
Faye became angry, though she couldn't understand why. "Why did you go after some drug ring? Why did you risk your life just to bring in some two- bit criminals?"  
  
"That's what the police are supposed to do."  
  
"Yeah, but not meter maids."  
  
Jet laughed. "It's a long story Faye."  
  
Faye, started to laugh as well, but her laughter soon turned to tears once again. "I could have lost you Jet… I don't know what I would have done if you…" Faye stopped. *What had happened to the old Faye Valentine?* She asked herself. *The old Faye Valentine wouldn't have cared if someone got shot.* But she wasn't the old Faye; she had let herself care for another person, and now she had to endure the effects of her mistake.  
  
Jet was worried by Faye's mercurial behavior. "You haven't been eating good enough, have you? Why don't I get you some of the food from the cafeteria?" Good nutrition is very - "  
  
"Jet!" Faye interrupted, "Don't you see what I am trying to say?"  
  
Jet's silence prompted her to continue.  
  
"I don't know why I let myself care about you, but I did, and now here we are. You're in the hospital after *getting shot* and I'm almost ready to have a kid. Not just any kid, *Spike's* kid. She paused for a moment and took a breath. "I need you, Jet."  
  
Faye stopped when she realized what she had just said. Her mind was racing. *What have I done? Why did I let myself say that?*  
  
Jet was stunned. She had voiced the emotion that was the closest thing to… to that feeling he had sealed off so long ago.  
  
"So…" Jet whispered, "What do we do now?"  
  
--  
  
Weeks passed. Jet was released from the hospital and Faye grew increasingly anxious, waiting and waiting until finally, her child would be born.  
  
Faye and Jet had not spoken of their exchange in the hospital afterwards, for it had brought up emotions that they both had sworn off years ago.  
  
After many busy days both Faye and Jet rested in the living room of their small house by watching their newly acquired television. Jet's drug bust had brought him a promotion and a front-page headline, and they lived much more comfortably thanks to the increased salary that Jet brought in. The show on the television was boring, but it passed the time well enough. Jet was just about to drift off to sleep when he was jabbed sharply in the side by Faye.  
  
"Jet." Faye's voice sounded urgent, but Jet was too groggy to notice.  
  
"uuh."  
  
"Jet!" Faye was more insistent now.  
  
"What?" Jet was awake.  
  
"It's time."  
  
----  
  
Faye counted again. Ten fingers, ten toes, everything perfect. After hours of labor a healthy baby boy had come into the world, and Jet had been by her side the whole time.  
  
Jet looked at the sleeping child in his mother's arms. *Now do you know why you did all this?* He asked himself. Only now did he know the answer. *It's because you love her.*  
  
"Have you decided on a name yet?" The nurse asked the two.  
  
Faye looked at Jet. "Yes," she said. This was news to Jet, who was nearly as exhausted as Faye was with worry. He looked at her with a puzzled expression.  
  
"His name will be Jet Junior."  
  
----  
  
"And the rest, is history." Jet picked up his drink and took a long swig.  
  
"Why did you wait until now to tell me?" Jet Jr.'s eyes flashed. At seventeen he was the spitting image of his father, from his lanky frame to his mossy hair, all save for his eyes, which were a brilliant emerald green like his mother's.  
  
"You wouldn't have understood when you were younger."  
  
"So I was a mistake. I shouldn't really be here at all."  
  
"If you are a mistake, then my marrying your mother is a mistake, and all of your brothers and sisters are mistakes too."  
  
"Well…" Jet Jr. could not think of a response.  
  
"Sometimes, Junior, one mistake is worth all the good luck in the world."  
  
-----  
  
Fin. 


End file.
